1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process for manufacturing cis-isoambrettolide in a very high degree of purity.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is known that substances with a musk odor are commonly used in the perfume industry in the broad sense, where they have a primary advantage, both in the perfumes sector and in that of washing products such as soaps and detergents, on account of their persistent effect.
These molecules are represented by 4 families: the non-nitro aromatic musks, the nitro aromatic musks, the macrocyclic ketones and the macrocyclic lactones. The lactones are important aromatic agents on account of their abundance in natural products.
Among the macrocyclic lactones of natural origin, derived from the plant kingdom, mention may be made of exaltolide, of formula (1) and ambrettolide, of formula (2). ##STR1##
Ambrettolide is obtained from the essential oil and the resinoids of ambrette, whose round, warm, musk note is highly appreciated in perfumery. This plant is Hibiscus abelmoschus 4, which is grown in South America, Indonesia and the West Indies.
An unsaturated macrocyclic lactone is already known: trans-isoambrettolide of formula (3), which is obtained industrially, this being a geometrical and positional isomer of natural ambrettolide. A process for obtaining the trans lactone is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,014,902. ##STR2##